(Introduction)
Sharpen your crayons and go! colouring isn’t kids’ stuff anymore but a real trend among adults to unwind. ‘Neue Presse’ editor Maike Jacobs and Frank Wilde (photography) present the most interesting books and the stars of the scene.

(Text)
When Anja Leidel is colouring she tends to forget everything around her. Colouring is pure relaxation for her. She loses herself completely in the worlds on paper that become more colourful with every stroke: ‘This form of colouring is for me a creative kind of meditation’, the 38-year-old says. ‘It’s so exciting to see how the colours come to life and the picture changes its expression. You stop thinking about anything else – colouring art truly grounds me.

Anja Leidel always used to draw and paint, showed her paintings in an exhibition in high school times but didn’t continue her hobby. ‘I became a graphic designer and focused on editorial design instead.’ Besides her agency she founded a small publishing house called ‘feingespinst‘ last year dedicated to publish beautiful and artful books.

‘At Frankfurt book fair last year I met the Malaysian artist, Emila Yusof. I liked her artworks so much that I immediately decided to publish them as colouring art books for adults under my publishing label.’ Each of the colouring art books ‘Mama Erde’ (‘Mother Earth’) and ‘Liebe Natur’ (‘Nature Sings’) contain 13 hand drawn artworks by Emila Yusof. ‘You can frame your masterpiece after it’s done or give it away as a a gift’, the young publisher recommends.

And of course Anja Leidel rediscovered her old hobby and now colours with enthusiasm herself: ‘When colouring, the biggest joy is creating your own rules – what colours you choose or what combinations you use.’

(Caption:)
EXCITED: Anja Leidel hasn’t only discovered her passion for colouring, but published two colouring books for adults. ‘Mutter Erde’ — ‘Mother Earth’ — (small photograph) is one of them.